12- Quranic Gem

‘Reconciliation’

‎لا خَيْرَ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِّن نَّجْوَاهُمْ إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَاحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
“There is no good in most of their secret consultations except in him who instructs charity, a good deed or reconciliation between people. Whoever does this seeking Allah’s pleasure, We shall soon grant him an immense reward.”

‎إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
“The believers are all brothers, so reconcile between your brothers. Fear Allah so that mercy be shown to you.”

In Arabic reconciling between two people is called إصلاح ذات البين. This is something of great merit and reward in Islam, and something which Allah really loves. But sadly, it’s something very few people do. If two people don’t speak to one another, it’s something which stops then from being forgiven. Rasulullah صلي الله عليه و سلم said,
‎ تفتح أبواب الجنة يوم الإثنين ويوم الخميس فيغفر لكل عبد لا يشرك بالله شيئاً، إلا رجلاً كانت بينه وبين أخيه شحناء، فيقال: أنظروا هذين حتى يصطلحا، أنظروا هذين حتى يصطلحا رواه مسلم
The doors of jannah are opened every Monday and Thursday, Allah forgives everyone who doesn’t do shirk, except those two who have hatred for one another. Allah says, give them respite until they reconcile.
So imagine the reward for reconciling between these two!

‘Reconciling’ means to remove hatred, malice, enmity from between two people who haven’t been speaking to one another. This act is so beloved to Allah, that even if the third person tells lies to reconcile the two, it’s permissible. For example; he goes to one and says, “I just came from by your friend and he was praising you”.
Rasulullah صلي الله عليه و سلم said,
‎ليس الكذاب الذي يصلح بين الناس فينمي خيرا او يقول خيرا (متفق عليه)
“A liar is not he who settles disagreements between people and speaks well and conveys good.”

‎كل يوم تطلع فيه الشمس تعدل بين الاثنين صدقة (متفق عليه)
“Everyday a person reconciles between two, is a means of sadaqah for him.”

Reconciling between family members:
Abdullah bin Zubair RA was the beloved nephew of Aisha RA. She use to spend in charity whatever she got. Abdullah said, “By Allah if Aisha doesn’t stop spending, I will declare her incompetent to dispose of her wealth.” When Aisha RA heard of this, she in return said, “Shall I be stopped from doing this? I vow I will never speak to Abdullah bun Zubair.” Abdullah sought intercession on many occasions, but she refused saying, “I will never accept anyone’s intercession and I won’t break my vow.” When this state prolonged, Abdur Rahman RA and Miswar RA said when we seek permission from Aisha to enter, you also come along. They went, after Salam, Aisha RA said enter. They said, “Should we all enter”, she said yes. Abdullah also went along inside and immediately hugged his aunt and wept saying to forgive him. Abdur Rahman and Miswar also requested her to speak and reminded her of the Hadith of Rasulullah صلي الله عليه و سلم in which he said it’s not permissible for a Muslim not to speak to his brother for more than three days. Aisha RA started saying that she made a vow but they kept reminding her of the Hadith. Eventually she spoke to Abdullah and she freed up to 40 slaves as expiation for her vow. (Bukhari)
Look how Abdur Rahman RA and Miswar RA tried to unite the aunt and nephew!

‎الا اخبركم بافضل من درجة الصيام و الصلاة و الصدقة؟ قالوا بلي. قال: إصلاح ذات البين فان فساد ذات البين هي الحالقة رواه ابو داود
Rasulullah صلي الله عليه و سلم said, should I not tell you the deed which is better than fasting, prayers and sadaqah? Sahaba replied, yes of course O Rasul! He said, to reconcile between two. To create enmity between two people destroys your deeds.

If we ponder on the last portion of the above Hadith, then we would realise that most of us are victims of this sickness.
‎ليس منا من خبب امرأة علي زوجها او عبدا علي سيده رواه ابو دَاوُدَ
“The one who turns a wife against her husband or turns a slave against his master is not of us.”

We can’t reconcile, but we can easily break relations between two, and we get ‘a buzz’ from doing so. We must refrain from such acts and try to create unity between people.

‎قال علي كرم الله وجهه: ان من موجبات المغفرة ادخال السرور علي اخيك المسلم
From amongst the means of forgiveness is to make your Muslim brother happy.

‎قال أنس رضي الله عنه: من اصلح بين اثنين أعطاه الله بكل كلمة عتق رقبة
Whosoever reconciles between two, Allah will give him the reward of freeing a slave for every word he uttered (in trying to reconcile).

‎قال ابو امامة رضي الله عنه: امش ميلا و عد مريضا، و امش ميلين و زر اخا في الله، و امش ثلاث اميال و اصلح بين اثنين
Walk one mile to visit the sick, walk two miles to visit your brother for the sake of Allah and walk three miles to reconcile between two people.

‎إن المكـارم كلها لو حصلت …… رجـعت جمـلتها إلى شـيئين
‎تعظيم أمر الله جـل جـلاله …… والسعي في إصلاح ذات البيـن
If you were to summarise good deeds it would narrowed down to two things; honouring the commands of Allah, and reconciling between two people.